


Are you joking?

by nyctophillia



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Asylum, F/M, Mental Breakdown, Mental Instability, Psychosis, Torture, psychotic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-20
Updated: 2017-04-06
Packaged: 2018-06-03 10:38:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 10,389
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6607600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nyctophillia/pseuds/nyctophillia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Vanessa is a very intelligent girl from the East End of Gotham City. Although she lives in a poor area, her intelligence got her into Gotham University. But after all the bully, a major breakdown and possible murder brings her to the Asylum, only one person is there to save her. The joker.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

I woke up in panic again, sweating and panting, grasping for air. I hated having those nightmares, but unfortunately in my position, it was inevitable. Everything about my life was worth quivering, sometimes I wondered how I was still alive after everything that has happened to me. My family and I live in the East End of Gotham City, most specifically in the Bowery. The reputation of my area cant be worse than it already is. Prostitution,crime,murders and homeless people are a common thing for us. And just to make things worse, my father is part of one of the biggest gangs in Gotham, the Rileys. My "beautiful" last name has caused me some enormous trouble in University. Most of the "richer" or higher class students would mock me, knowing I couldn't say anything or my father would risk prison. But I was the first in my family to make it to collegiate level, earning myself a scholarship for my incredible math skills.  
"Vanessa get the f*ck out of bed. Ya got school!  
-Yes mom."  
As usual, my mom woke me up in the most decent manner possible, only making me want to leave as fast as I can. I stood in front of my broken mirror pieces I managed to stick on my wall and brushed my ginger locks , trying to look as awake as possible. I chose my outfit for today, hoping id blend in this time, without anyone noticing me. Yesterday, Batman made an appearance near my district so hopefully people will be talking about him instead.  
I opened the door to my room and found my mom doing her usual drugs on the couch. I passed by her and took my breakfast and ran outside the house. Walking to the University was another challenge on its own, requiring me to pass the creepiest houses and dark streets of Gotham. Some illegal activity was going on here for sure, I would bet my life on it. But no one bothered me, they knew me. There was no point into starting something, knowing my father, he would strike back at them.  
I made it to the University on time as usual and walked casually to my first lesson, Chemistry I. Then, I saw her. Maria Ann Miller. One of the many people that bullied me day after day. But her, Oh her, she was special. She seemed to have a special obsession with ruining my life. She bumped into me and shouted:  
"Watch where you're going you criminal offspring, I dont want your genetic dirt on my beautiful skin.   
-Shut it Maria, you're so selfish.  
-Selfish? At least im not rotting in a box like you. Im surprised your parents still want you. I mean, look at you. You look the cloth I use to wipe my floor.  
-Get a hobby, for real.  
-Oh but I do. You are my hobby. Ruining you is my hobby.  
-Creep.  
And I walked away, pretending it didn't matter to me. This girl was driving me crazy. The more she went on, the more I wanted to jump at her throat. Am I going crazy?

It was the end of another painful day in school, and I made my way to the main entrance, ready to make my walk back home. When I made it outside, I saw a big group of people. "A fight" I thought to myself. These things happened a lot anyways, wouldn't be a surprise. I just walked pass like nothing was new but I heard my name quick enough.  
"Hey Vanessa, where do you think your going?  
-Home. Problem?  
-You bet I have a problem. In fact, we all do. We were all waiting here for you, you see. We heard you spoke back to Maria Ann today, I think you deserve a little beating for doing something so out of hand.  
The boy that spoke had a mean look on his face, but a beautiful pair of eyes.  
-Please, I didnt do anything wrong.  
But it was too late, they jumped on me. I thought it was over. All the pain it was making me feel. All I wanted to do was cry, scream and run.  
But thats when it struck me. All the pain ive felt these years, it was time now. I screamed my lungs out and jumped to the boys neck, losing control over myself. My brain became fuzzy and dark, all I could see was blood everywhere, and people running,screaming for help. 

 

Everything went black.


	2. Arkham

I woke up not being able to move my limbs at all. Come to think of it, I couldn't feel them at all. Everything felt numb and not quite so real. I could hear faint screams behind walls and feel a cold air around me, but nothing like the outdoors, just cold. I might be dreaming, its not quite clear.  
I opened one eye, trying to focus on my surroundings, not recognizing much of it. The walls were grey stone, just like the cold floor. Although, I was sitting on a wired bed and i could read some deranging words behind me. I soon realized that I was wearing hospital clothes , most specifically asylum clothes. This could only mean one thing: I am trapped in Arkham Asylum.  
I screamed and screamed until my lungs couldnt take it anymore, I punched the walls several times until my knuckles bled over the floor and cursed at everyone passing near my door, threatening them to get me out. I felt an uncontrollably violent feeling of banging my head on the walls, making my forehead bleed, but still, no one paid attention to me. It was their fault, my classmates, I was here because of them! They did this to me!  
"I WILL KILL THEM ALL I SWEAR"  
-Miss Riley, please try to maintain your voice, some patients are trying to sleep.  
-Oh yeah? As me if I care! Common! Ask!  
-I am aware that you do not care, but unfortunately you will risk the electrocution chair if you dont start caring. NOW! The other nurse screamed.   
-Dont tell me what to do you hags. I dont belong here!!  
-But of course you do, after your little public murder. Now you've earned yourself the chair. Take her out, keep the ropes on her hand if you need. Use the chains to guide her, make sure she doesn't touch you, ill meet you at the chair.  
-NO! IM NOT GOING WITH YOU! I DIDNT KILL ANYONE!!  
The nurse ignored my screams and punches, almost like she's been through it before. She attached a chain to my hands and led me out of my cell. She walked me around like a filthy dog, and many people were staring at me. Where were my parents? Did they not care? I cant stay here.   
We entered the electrocution room where only a chair stood in the middle of the room, blood dripping from past executions. It wasn't heart warming at all. I know famous villains went on this chair, and that means no good for me. I dont want to die.  
She tied me up to the chair, again avoiding my aggressive movements and positioned all the wires on my body, making sure she didnt miss a spot. Both nurses back away and hid behind the glass door, grinning just a little. She pulled a lever and it hit me.  
The energy flew through my body, aching every cell there was on its way. The pain was excruciating through all my body, numbing all of my limbs. I screamed and screamed but it would only make the pain worse. My brain was buzzing and blacking out, my eyes rolled back and all i could do was wait for my death..

I woke up on my stringy bed without any blankets, unsure of what happened exactly. Lucky for me, the nurses were still speaking outside of my cell, not aware of me being awake. The younger nurse spoke to the older one:  
-Are you sure this is legal?  
-Ha! Of course not! Were not allowed to use the electrocuting machine this much on one person, im surprised the kid is still alive.  
-What do you mean?  
-Well she is 19 right? Most people under 20 die the first time, we electrocuted her over 50 times and she's still alive.  
-She probably has some serious brain damage anyways.  
-I hope so, this psychotic killer needs some containing.

This couldnt be. Electrocuted over 50 times? Im sure I would be dead by now too. And my brain seems fine, minus every part of my body possibly bleeding. I didn't know for how long I could keep this game up, but sooner or later, I needed to get out of there. I dont belong here. I dont.  
Just as I was falling asleep, I heard footsteps in the corridor and my door swung open. I got up faster than ever, ready to attack whoever it was, but before I could do anything, the person slammed his hand on my mouth, covering any potential sound. I looked nervously at the person, noticing very quickly his features, green hair, tattooed, broken teeth covered in silver and a tortured look. It was the Joker. Another reason to panic even more.  
After he saw my panic, he pressed his hand even harder, telling me to shut up.  
"Sh. Listen quickly. Im here to get you out of this place, but only if you do me a favor."  
I nodded in agreement, and he slowly removed his hand from my mouth.  
-What is it?  
-Its too long to explain, unless you want to get caught. You decide now. I have better things to do, so decide fast.  
-Fine, fine, take me. But i swear if you try to kill me, ill show you that i dont go down easily.  
-Yeah,yeah. Whatever. Follow me.  
I followed the Joker, like nothing was wrong at all, and he led me through some passages I havent seen so far. I dont think anyone has seen them before. They were very very well covered. We went through broken stone walls for a certain amount of time until we reached a sewage. After that, I had absolutely no Idea where we were, I just trusted the most wanted criminal ever with my life. Seemed totally insane. As long as I get out.  
We arrived near an abandoned house, in the middle of abandoned suburbs and he led me inside. He showed me where the bathroom was and told me to look in drawer for clothes.  
"The people that lived here left their belongings". Creepy. I took a shower, put on some "clean" clothes and grabbed whatever looked dangerous enough to kill someone, and stepped out of the room.  
I was now living with the Joker himself.


	3. Chelsea Smile

"So what do you want from me?" I asked.  
"They formed a squad.. the Suicide Squad. We need to eliminate them."  
"We? Them? What are you on about?"  
"We as in us, because you owe me for getting you out of that dirt place. And them as in heroes."  
"Heroes??? Its their fault this happened to me! They didnt do anything for me, all these years, nothing! Im in."  
"Its not like you had a choice"  
"W-What do you mean?"  
"Watch your step,honey" The Joker spoke his words with a large grin on his face, as I made small steps behind. I suddenly bumped onto a cold wall but I was too long to realize that the cold platform i rested my back on has straps, and it didn't take long for the Joker to lock my hands in them.  
"What are you doing?! Take those off of me!"  
"I dont take orders. Now that your with me, I make the rules. Now sh."  
I started panicking, not knowing what I got myself into. All I wanted was to get revenge on the people that didn't care enough about me. All i wanted was revenge. Not death.  
"Are you going to kill me?"  
"Oh im not gonna kill you. Im just going to hurt you really, really, BAD."  
I started screaming as he took out a knife from the steel table, and aimed it at me smiling, revealing his silver teeth. He was ignoring my screams and sliced a little cut at the edge of my lips, forcing me into an excruciating cry. He went deeper and deeper, carefully not cutting all the way through, and the pain almost made me pass out. I couldn't even think anymore, the pain took over me and froze everything else in me.  
It only took him 10 minutes, which were the most painful minutes in my whole life. I would take the electrocution chair any day over this. The pain was something numbing for me, and I hated the feeling. I made my way to the bathroom to inspect my new face and rushed with a towel, wiping the blood off and trying to heal it with random liquids i found in the drawers. It was painful, it stung every time i touched it and made me squirm at every move. I started crying, looking at my reflection. I looked horrible, like a horror movie monster. I fell on the floor, screaming and crying, not knowing what to do or say. I broke the mirror fast enough, not being able to see myself any longer.  
I made my way to the bedroom, curling up in the dirty sheets and cried. For a long time. Longer than I've ever cried in my life, probably releasing all the emotional pain I've ever felt. A few hours later, the Joker came in the room and sat next to me, folding his arms.  
"Are you done?"  
"You better go away before this heals, ill murder you!" I cried in the pillow.  
"I love your threats, but now, we form the perfect team. You feel my pain.."  
"Was that the whole point of this?" I cried, with pain aching on my cheeks whilst i spoke.  
"YES! Now you get it. If you dont want me to dump you back at Arkham, stop your childish BS now. I SAID NOW!"  
I jumped, which made the Joker laugh hysterically again. He flicked a lighter in his hands and handed it to me.  
"Here, burn the scars, the blood will stop."  
"ARE YOU INSANE?"  
"Ive been told."  
He lied down on the bed, turning to the opposite side and threw the blanket over his back.  
"Are you just going to fall asleep?"  
"What is night for? Im not gonna babysit you all night."  
"When are we going to make a move on them anyways?"  
"Tomorrow well plan, now get some rest. Youre well hidden here."  
   
I tried taking his advice so I slid into my place in the bed and rolled into what was left of the blanket. Slow tears fell on my cheeks and onto the pillow, and i left a soft sob out, soon regretting it. I froze, waiting for the Joker to torture me again but to my immense surprise, he put his arm around my stomach, bring me into a spoon position. I was terrified, and didnt want to move, for the sake of my life. But at the same time, his warmth was reassuring and comforting. I didnt know what tot think anymore, I was losing it , thats certain.  
After what seemed like hours of thinking, we both feel asleep in an awkward silence.


	4. Ecstasy

I woke up from a dreamless sleep and opened my eyes, staring at the ceiling for a long time. Everything that happened in the last two days was so traumatizing I was wondering if it was a nightmare. It didn't feel real anyways, so why bother? I yawned, but was quickly stopped by the aching pain from my cheeks. I squirmed a little, which seemed to have awaken the Joker. He turned around to face me, still lying in the bed. His morning face was slightly less aggressive than the usual.  
"Are you in pain?"  
"No,no, my cheeks have been cut open, im fabulous." I said,sarcastically.   
"I love your sarcasm Van."  
"Never thought the word love could come out of your mouth."  
"I love many things, how could you. I love seeing the face of people when they are being tortured."  
"Surprising." I ached in pain.  
"Oh common, grow a pair, the pain is better than whatever they were going to do to you in there."  
"Not to pop your bubble Joker but, they electrocuted me over 50 times, I think im surviving fine."  
"50 times? HAHAHAHAHAHA! Not possible dear, you'd be dead."  
"Well it appears im both alive, and massively electrocuted."  
He looked at me, very perplex. Im not sure if he believed me or if he was thinking of an alternate punishment. He sat on the edge of the bed and stretched his arms, yawning loudly. He got up and made his way to the drawer, putting a shirt on.  
"Alright,Vanessa. This place is not my home. I took you here so people wouldnt find you too quickly. So today were going to my house."  
"What? You have a house? Hahahaha. Impress me Puh-lease."  
"As much as I adore your laughter, you better not mock me another time. And yes I have a house, and many riches. Being me, has its advantages. Now get dressed. I believe I have women clothes at my house, so dont get used to these rags."  
"Used to hosting women are we?"  
"Other people have worked for me in the past."  
"Where are they now?"  
"Unfortunate fate."  
He left the room and went to do god knows what. I looked in the drawer and put on some of the nicest "rags" I could find. I mean, Ill get to keep them so I might as well chose wisely. After my outfit was complete, i smothered some of the Jokers red lipstick over my cuts to cover them. When i came out of the room, he turned around in a surprised face.  
"Who let you take my red?"  
"Me,myself and I. I figured you'd owe me that much."  
"And I figured black wasn't your color. At all."  
"Are you serious??"  
He laughed hysterically before leading me through out the door. We went down the broken stairs and right in front of us was a slick purple car, that looked like it belonged to a millionaire. He opened the drivers door and sat down.  
"Thats your car????"  
"Technically,yes."  
I sighed and entered the passengers seat. For some reason, I wasn't worried of the police because there was no sign of life in the area. It seemed like we were in a ghost town or something.  
We passed a few more deserted towns before we arrived near a forest. We drove on the small road leading inside the forest and later arrived in front of an enormous mansion. It was surrounded by trees and illuminated by lights everywhere. It looked gorgeous and extremely expensive. I looked at the Joker, who was happily smiling while parking the car. For some reason, I felt like a little girl about to enter a candy store. He led me to the door and what I saw after entering was worth all the pain I got from smiling. It was gigantic, modern and polished everywhere. It looked like a diva house.  
"This is awesome???"  
"I know, Ive worked hard on this."  
"What? Stealing?"  
"Mostly , yes. Follow me ill show you your room."  
We went up two sets of marble stairs and entered the first room on the left. When he opened the door, I couldn't contain my happiness anymore and awed at the sight of my bedroom. It was so well decorated, for some reason. I didn't exactly want to know why. It was girly and modern, and it had its own bathroom. I didnt know where to start,everything was perfect.  
"Get dressed properly and meet me downstairs fast to eat."  
I nodded, too shocked to say anything,even a simple thanks. I went over to the bed, sitting on it with a naive smile. It took me five minutes to make it to the wardrobe. When I opened it, I realized it was a walk in. He mustve had a girlfriend of some sort? How? I carefully chose some clothes, putting up some sort of outfit I made my way down the two sets of stairs and found him sitting at the kitchen table, his arms crossed. He turned around at the sound of my heels.  
"Now, thats your colors. I truly love these on you."  
"Aren't they your colors Joker?"  
"Please call me Jack. And yes they are, hence why they suit you so well."  
"Jack is your real name?"  
"You want to know? Even I am not quite sure if it is my real name, but I like to believe it is."  
"Who knows about it?"  
"You."  
I stared at his eyes and could feel he was being honest,somehow. Why was he nice to me? He is the most dangerous criminal of Gotham.  
"Take a seat, we will discuss everything."


	5. Settled

The joker looked in my dark green eyes, giving me shivers. He seemed serious and pensive, which was scary and comforting at the same time. It didn't make sense, and neither was my life making any sense right now. He cleared his throat and opened his mouth to let out a long sigh.  
"They recruited some known villains in Gotham, to work for them. And by that I mean catch me. Most likely they will hunt for you after."  
"Wait- Hold on. Whos they? And what villains?"  
"The government, its all I managed to get. They recruited Deadshot, Boomerang , El Diablo, Killer Croc, Slipknot and my then psychologist, Harley Quinn."  
"Talk about being outnumbered!"   
"Thats not the problem. The problem is, they are going to come looking for me. I cant let that happen, so we have to go looking for them first. Trust me, its going to easier than it sounds."  
I let out a sigh, clearly indicating a small regret in accepting his offer. I swiped the room with my eyes, looking at every detail I could spot. Its understandable why the Joker didn't want to be caught in his home, he was finally free. But what are the risks I had to put in for this?   
"You're going to need a nickname."  
"Why now? Vanessa is fine."  
"Yes but not now, your identity needs to stay hidden, understand?"  
"How about Van?"  
"Did you just cut your name in half? You're going to need some brains for this. I suggest Vanity."  
I gave it a thought, ignoring the Jokers insult. Vanity sounded classy but edgy at the same time. Something a beautiful villain would wear, proudly. I couldn't help but imagine a tall blonde supermodel wearing a name like this. It was fancy,thats for sure.  
"Fine, Vanity it is."  
The Joker smiled with his usual sadism added to it. Oh lord,what have I gotten myself into? There was no way out of it now. I hope my freedom really was worth it. He stood up and stretched his arm, then looked at me.  
"You should get ready to sleep soon."  
"Yeah ill head upstairs, thank you for the food."  
His silence only made want to go even faster. I made my way up the stairs and entered my room, letting out a loud sigh as soon as I closed the door. A shower. I needed a shower really badly. That would soothe my nerves probably. I went to the closet and picked a pajama and made my way to the bathroom to select which shampoo and body wash I would use. It made me feel like a little girl, or whatever that was left of the little girl in me. I stepped inside the hot shower,burning my body a little. I looked at my feet to see a considerable amount of dirt falling. I took a handfull of shampoo and soap and tried to remove as much as possible. But just after I did, blood was seen everywhere in the shower. I felt my face and then looked in the mirror across the shower. My scar.  
I stepped out of the shower and quickly covered my scar with tissues, trying not to stain anything. I put on my pajamas and opened the door to my room. To my great surprise, the Joker was sitting on my bed. I jumped in surprise, covering myself as my pajama wasn't very covering.  
"Dont cover yourself, you have such a nice body. And I see you took a liking to the color scheme. Let me see your scar."  
I slowly stepped closer to him, until I was sat down on the bed, at his side. I took off the tissues and ached in pain as it pulled the blood off. He slid his finger slowly on the scar, almost admiring it. He cleaned it off with the remaining tissue and applied a beige liquid cream on it. Seeing my perplex face, he answered my question, without me asking.  
"Its a balm I used myself, whenever I got injured. It sounds silly but I promise it will heal a lot faster."  
"T-Thanks."  
"You will learn to embrace it one day, trust me."  
"I think trusting you is all Ive been doing recently. I hope I wont regret it."  
"Regret is not something I like to live on." He winked at me, and laughed sadistically.   
We spoke for a few hours until we both laid on the bed, telling each other stories. It wasn't exactly stories of our lives, but somehow, I believed he was letting me know more about him. Even if he spoke at the third person, I assumed the boy he always mentioned was him. It felt heart warming to know he was letting me inside his shell. I also told him horrible stories about a "girl" who has been bullied harshly. Later on, we realized that the "girl" and the "boy" were not so different and shared a very similar past.  
As time flew by, my eyes got heavier, and the Jokers voice was getting slower and more tired. I rested my head on his shoulder and fell asleep quickly, into dreams of purples and greens.


	6. Pumpkin

I woke up, feeling rather calm for the first time in a few days. I moved my cheeks to feel the wound and to my surprise, it wasn't aching as much as usual. I sat on the edge of the bed, looking around the room. I realized the sheets on the other side of the bed were unfolded. Then I remembered, Joker fell asleep next to me. Why? He had his own bed, no need to invade my space.   
What would my parents think if they knew I slept with a man? Yet alone a murderer? This thought made me realize my parents havent looked for me at all. I had no news of them whatsoever, and they knew exactly how to contact me. I knew they never cared much, but to leave me in a such situation, that was beyond the line.  
My thoughts were cut when I heard the door open slowly, almost cautiously. I turned around knowing the only other person living here was Joker. He entered my room with a little knock and his eyes grew when he saw me awake. He sat down next me to me and looked up.  
"How did you sleep?"  
"Fine. You have a good taste in mattresses."  
"I have a good taste in everything."  
I laughed a little at his sarcasm, making me squirm only a little at the pain on my cheek. He slid his finger gently on the scar.  
"It still hurts?"  
"Only a little, but its endurable."  
"I was thinking of taunting the squad today, do you feel like you could or tomorrow is better?"  
"Im ready, but what do you mean by taunting?"  
"I was thinking of broadcasting a video of you, declaring you a hostage and threatening to attack the secret government agency if they dont re imprison the squad."  
"And you think this is going to work?"  
"I have my people. Dont underestimate me." He licked his lips in apprehension, his usual tic.  
He got up from the bed and made his way to the door, giving me a head sign to follow him. I walked behind him as we went down the set of stairs, freezing my feet as we went. He led me to a door that supposedly led to the basement and opened it, revealing complete darkness. He didnt open the lights before going down the wooden stairs. I walked slowly behind him, staying cautious of my surroundings until he stopped in front a table. He clapped his hands and a faint light opened, showing us six men, all wearing clown masks.  
"Gentlemen! Today, I need you to put bombs in the basement of one school and the government main building. I have the detonator here, so I will be able to do the rest myself."  
"Aye" Said one of the clowns.  
"On it." As the others answered.  
"Vanessa here, will be part of the plan." He licked his lips again, with an amusing smile.  
No one answered, mostly out of fear. Joker then proceeded by getting chains out of an armoire and took a camera.  
"Alright, I do this pretty..often.It shouldn't be too hard. Vanessa, I will pretend to be torturing you. Come here." He said to me, motioning his hand in his direction.  
I slowly walked towards him, not quite sure what to expect. He looked quickly towards the men in the masks and shouted in a terrifying voice.  
"All of you. OUT. Get this started.NOW!"  
I shook in terror, hopefully not noticeably. The Joker laughed a little and started wrapping chains around my face, covering my mouth. I trusted him, but it didn't make this whole process less frightening. I felt the chains tighten around me and a small pain emerged. Then the joker sliced a little cut on my arm, making me squirm loudly. He took the blood and smeared it on my cheeks.  
"Now it looks like you've been tortured. I know you cant talk right now, but let me do the work. All you have to do is look terrified."  
I nodded in agreement as he went and reached for the camera. Before opening it, he walked towards me and slid his hand on my face whispering " It'll be okay ". And for some reason, I believed it. It will be okay. When he opened the camera, he turned it around to him and started speaking, adding some sadistic laughs here and there.  
"Gotham city! How delighted I am to be facing you today! Hahahahah! Unfortunately, I am the bearer or bad news." He turned the camera to face me. I gave my worst facial expression I could think of, thinking of the deal we had.  
"This young lady here, is my hostage. I will continue to torture her...over and over. BUT! To add more to the fun, I have placed bombs inside a school and in the government basement. Heres our deal. You re imprision your so-called Suicide Squad and you will spare some lives. Anyone gets near the bombs, i detonate. Anyone gets near me, I detonate. Deal? Awesome!"  
He closed his message with a hysterical laugh and threw the camera on the table. He quickly stepped to me, removing the chains carefully. He motioned me to wait with his hands, so I did. A few seconds later he was back with a wet cloth, wiping the blood off my cheeks and then my arm,putting a bandaid on it. How caring.  
"Wow thanks."  
"Well, you are helping me. Anyways....now, we wait for the call, and then we broadcast it on television."  
We went upstairs to the main floor, finally done with the first step of the mission. I didn't exactly know how it would go, I couldn't help but worry. As much as the Joker wants me to trust him, it was very hard to believe it would all work. The government of Gotham wasn't always intelligent when it came to decision making, plus the Batman would be planning something more cunning than the Joker.  
We sat on the couch, both sighing in relief, staring into the blank. I looked at his, noticing his smile. He had perfect makeup, tattoos everywhere, even on his forehead and perfectly sleeked hair. Whenever he opened his mouth to breathe, his silver teeth would shine,giving the man a intimidating look. He was the perfect description of a villain. But I saw sorrow. Sorrow in his eyes. I dont know this man, but the sadness behind his crystal grey eyes definitely came from somewhere.  
I got torn out of my imagination when I realized he was looking at me. I almost blushed by being caught staring, but tried my best to contain it inside. He licked his lips again, and took a strand of my hair, patting my cheek along.  
"Your hair is the color of ...pumpkins. You are like a little pumpkin, vibrant, perfect shape, beautiful but symbol of terror and night. People dont understand the pumpkin, because they fear it, as it is a symbol of the hallowed eve, but they are missing out on the most beautiful of them all."


	7. Deceived

We spent hours talking about everything and nothing, playing little games, making jokes and sharing secrets. I felt like I had a friend for the first time in my life. He told me stories of his childhood, and so did I, getting to know each other even more. I noticed that licking his lips wasn't the only tick he had, he also paused a long time between some words. He was an interesting person, knowing about him was special to me, because he was everything I should be. He took matters in his hands, unlike me.  
Time passed fast with him, and not long ago we realized the sun was setting already. The trees in the forest were barely visible and a small glimpse of the sun was still laying low in the sky. At this exact moment, Jokers phone rang once only, giving him a signal. He clicked a few little buttons, and did some technical adjusting in which I had no expertise and sighed.  
"Its done."  
As I opened my mouth to congratulate him, I was cut by the sound of a window breaking. I screamed my lungs out, jumping to the ground in surprise, but what surprised me more, was the sight I had when i raised my head. The Batman. He was so tall and muscular. He almost looked like a villain, with his fierce and dark costume. His voice was deeper than the Jokers, which shook me. The Batman grabbed me quickly by the neck and slid a gun to my temples. It all happened before I could even blink.   
"L-Let go of me!"  
"What are you doing, batty?" The Joker looked surprised but calm at the same time.  
"Cleaning up your mess. Im taking the girl with me, to the police headquarters."  
"No! I mean..why would you need her anyways?" This time, he seemed more worried.  
"If you want her alive, then stop those bombs."  
"Never." He said,ending it with a sadistic laugh.  
I felt a tear slide down my cheeks as I saw him, laughing his heart out. I was simply sad that after finally having a friend, he backstabbed me hard. All the things he told me, all the secrets we shared.. were they even true? I was truly wondering. I was simply a pawn in his project, and I was most likely heading right back into hell.  
The batman ran out of the broken window, still holding me over his shoulders, letting my head fall on his back. He jumped on a motorcycle and started the gas, speeding out of the forest as soon as he could. As we passed small country houses, I couldn't help but feel torn inside. But why? I have never felt friendship before, but it couldn't be that bad. My heart feels like theres a huge gap inside, some sort of void. Maybe I did the wrong decision, trusting the first person to offer me a nice service. Serves me right.  
We arrived in the center of Gotham, gliding through different streets in the middle of the city lights. As beautiful as my city was at night, I couldn't concentrate on anything but the Joker. Why? Why has he done this to me. I trusted him!  
My thoughts were cut by the bike stopping straight in front of a tall office building. I didn't have time to catch a glimpse of where we were , when someone handcuffed me. A tall women , with dark skin and a strict look on her face. She looked very professional.  
"What are you doing! I didn't do anything!"  
"Oh no, dont get me wrong dear, we only need you to cooperate."   
What? What did she mean by cooperate. Im not letting them imprison me again, let alone torture me. I hope and pray this is not what she meant by cooperate.  
She smiled and led me inside the grilled doors, whilst being followed by four armed guards,two in front and two behind us. The walls were all white inside, looking very scientific like. Most people were dressed in office clothing or simply held guns in their hands,surveilling. We went down five sets of stairs, leading into a large basement with a very high ceiling. Inside the room was a large cage, with a chair in it. Oh no.  
"No! You cant torture me! I dont want to go there!" I tried pushing the lady off of me but the guards quickly reminded me how big their guns were. I swallowed my cries , holding up my ego really high. I could do this right? After all.. I deserved it.  
She hooked me up to the chair but to my surprise, there were no wired on it, connecting to some sort of energy base. She looked the door of my cell and stood right outside , looking directly at me.  
"What were you doing with...the Joker?"  
I remained silent, not knowing what to do. I mean, he saved me in some kind of way, I owed him that much. But on the other hand, he threw me under the bus as a pawn in his little mind game. I wouldn't want to throw him under the bus, after all, he was my first friend and i wont lower myself to that level. I had some strange feeling it was better to remain silent, some kind of voice. Almost like I could hear him, telling me not to do it.  
"Alright bring the squad." She pointed at two armed men, and they quickly exited the room in an ordered manner. She chuckled a little, putting her hand over her mouth, sarcastically producing a surprised face.  
"You know, the Squad wont let you out of here alive honey. I told you to cooperate,ts."  
I spat on the ground, towards her direction, making her laugh even more. She didnt seem to care at all.  
The doors opened loudly as a mass of people barged in. Harley Quinn,Deadshot,Slipknot,Killer Croc and El Diablo were walking in, a confident air on their faces, looking more or less dangerous. Quinn was the first one to take a look at me, opening the door to my cage. She exploded in laughter.  
"So this is the little girl we have to torture? Oh! Look! She has a cut on her lips. That reminds me of...Oh no!" She started violently screaming and hitting me repeatedly.  
"Whats your problem?!!" I yelled and spat at her face, making her snap out of whatever she was in.  
"You work for him?"  
"Who?"  
"The...Joker?"  
"Were friends."  
"LIES!" She slapped me in the face, leaving a stinging feel and a redness on my cheek. She was now crying, but her laughter could still be heard.  
"Why are you not giving him in? Hes USING YOU! Haha!"  
"Harley, shut it. You, prisoner, what did the Joker tell you to do?" This time, it was Deadshot that spoke, pushing Harley aside.  
"Im not telling you anything!"  
"You're doing a big mistake, taking sides with him." Slipknot mumbled.  
"Aren't you the perfect lot to tell me about sides and mistakes?" I spat.  
Deadshot laughed a little under his breath.  
"You know nothing little girl. Spit the info. Now."

We spent hours doing this non-stop. They tried many ways to get information out of me, resulting in absolutely nothing in my part. They wiped me, inserted knifes in my already cuts, burned me and hit me repeatedly. I never gave in.  
It was around night, according to the one clock on the other side of the room when a terrible trembling sensation was accompanied by a loud noise of explosion. Many security agents came in, rushing towards us. The first man spoke,trembling only a little.  
"You, all of you, run out, the building is collapsing, there were hidden bombs. The joker never mentioned those on his broadcast. Get out of here fast, leave the prisoner here, she will die anyways. Run!"  
And so they did. They ran out without even looking at me one time, no second thoughts. They left me alone here, just like everyone else did throughout my whole life. I think this is destiny, I wasn't meant to be part of this world. Im a crazy, lonely and disgusting person that no one would want. This is what im meant to do. Die in an explosion, caused by the one person I thought I could trust. The thought of it made me cry, letting out all the sorrow I felt the past few days. I had no worries , I was completely alone.  
"Dont cry pumpkin, im here now."  
I turned around to see the Joker, standing right behind my cage, clinging on to some keys. My heart pounded.


	8. Serendipity

It was pouring outside and the sky over Gotham was depressingly black. The mood was just like the weather, dark. My thoughts twisted in many directions, not exactly sure where to land.  
Joker came inside my solitary to rescue me, hacked systems and created massive explosions throughout the city. There was chaos everywhere, people screaming, cries and losses. Gotham was entering a war.  
We were standing on top of the roof of a tall financial building, able to see everything going down in the city. Perhaps ,it was the first place he thought to take me at this moment. But it didn't matter. What mattered right now, was figuring his thoughts.   
"L-Listen J..." I started.  
"You're welcome!" He smiled and laughed as if nothing happened.  
"Why did you rescue me? What are we doing here? What's going o-"  
"Shh, silence pumpkin, you give me a headache." He put his finger on my lips, quieting me down.  
"She gives me a headache too!!" We heard a familiar female voice emerge from behind,where the stairs were. She was tall, blonde and had a deranged face that matched her clothes just as well. She looked very familiar but I couldn't remember exactly..  
"Harley...What a pleasure."   
Yes. Harleen Quinzel. That's who she is. She changed so much, after the rumors about her spread, she disappeared . Her eyes were watery, yet still seeming angry and happy at the same time. She looked even more insane than I thought she did. She must've been through alot of torture to look like this, knowing I've been through similar and I haven't lost as much sanity as she appears to.  
"Cut the crap Puddin', what are you doing?" She spat, keeping a sensual look at Joker, slowly walking towards him.  
"How about you stop calling me that and perhaps i'll spare you for sneaking on people."  
"Who is she?"  
"My new toy..." He laughed in the darkest way possible, making me shiver.  
"What am I then??" She was crying loudly this time.  
Joker took a gun out of his pocket and pointed it at her, a big smile resting on his face.  
"You would never do that hun." She said, chuckling.  
He suddenly shot her leg, making her scream in pain as her body flipped to the ground. She grabbed her leg, pressing hard while keeping her eyes on Jokers. My heart was beating faster, not knowing what would come next. I had no idea why this happened, and I certainly did not want to stay here.  
"Sad,sad girl. I actually thought youd cooperate, but I guess you're not an easy girl,huh?" He asked,keeping a cool tone.  
"I'm so sorry, please! I'll do whatever you say. I'll kill for you! Please.."  
"Are you trying to sweet talk me? Because that's not gonna work." He mimicked a sad face, clearly stating he was amused by the whole situation.  
He looked inside his pockets, finding some strange metal ball, where he detached the top part of it, creating a ticking noise. Oh no. He threw it at her and waved maniacally as he mouthed "Psyche!" and took me by the waist down the metal ladder at an incredible speed. The grenade exploded, making the roof crumble fast on top of us. Joker took my hand and speed up in the stairs, leading me to his car. In an amount of minutes we were gone already,speeding through the highways of Gotham.  
I couldn't say anything as I was both out of breath and traumatized. I stared outside the window, not knowing where to direct my thoughts. I felt a hand grab mine, and turned around to see a concerned Joker.  
"What's going on?" He asked, seeming legitimately worried.  
"I just..so much happened, i've lost so much, been hurt so much, there's been changes going on every minute, I don't even know who I am anymore." I felt a tear slide down my cheek, embarrassing me more than ever. I turned around to the window, noticing we were pulling into the driveway.  
As we got outside of the car, Joker held my over my shoulders, giving me some sort of moral support. We entered the house together, sighing at the sight of nothing. No one. Utter emptiness. After all this action, it felt relieving.  
"Put on a swimsuit, well go in the jacuzzi and have ourselves a drink, you need it." He said as he gently tapped my cheeks with his hands. He went upstairs before I could react to anything and vanished in his room. I did need a drink, my nerves would appreciate that.  
I made my way up the stairs and headed to my room, going for the big closet. This time I looked for a bikini, which wasn't very hard to find as this wardrobe had its own swimwear section. I selected my favorite one and went downstairs, covering myself with my towel.  
I arrived downstairs, seeing the door to the back side was open. I walked towards it, slightly nervous and made my way to the immense jacuzzi area where Jack was waiting for me. Jack. It felt so weird to think of him as a..Jack. I let my towel down, and stepped inside the Jacuzzi.  
"Why hide yourself when you look..magnificent?"  
"Look who's using big words!"  
"You keep underestimating me." He said, as he handed me a shot of vodka.  
We both chugged it and made the same, nasty face at the taste of the liquid. He quickly poured another one and we repeated the process.  
"Thanks for saving me J."  
"It was all part of the plan, even I knew Harley would come. It was all planned. To take them down. One.by.one." He said,showing a scary grin.  
"Why didn't you tell me?"  
"I wasn't sure if I could trust you just yet, but you were great help, and I'm thankful of that."  
We chugged another shot, feeling less sober shot by shot. I felt more comfortable after a certain amount of time, and became more and more honest with J.  
"So was Harley like..your ex?" I laughed loudly.  
"Something like that,she means nothing now."  
"Are you gonna get yourself a new psycho gf or what?"   
He patted my cheek, like he usually did and looked at my eyes for a long time. My heart was beating so fast i was certain he could hear it. It was a strange unknown feeling. He was so close, it would've made me sweat if it wasn't for the jacuzzi. His eyes had some sort of innocent look through them, reflecting a sadness I could also feel. I almost lost myself in his beautiful eyes until I was cut out of my fantasy by his lips, locking onto mine. He aggressively grabbed my body and helped me over so I was sitting on his legs, still kissing him. I wrapped my arms around him and grabbed his hair, still feeling his broken lips on mine. I could feel his hands on my back, pulling hard asking for more. That's when he slid his tongue inside my mouth, needing no permission to enter. I let the feeling overwhelm me and I drifted into the kiss even deeper, reaching serendipity.


	9. Twist

I opened my eyes slowly, feeling refreshed and more relaxed than ever. I felt lightweight but slightly aching. I soon realised my head was on Joker's chest, feeling it go up and down as he breathed. I could easily see his chest tattoos as my head was resting on the one where many Ha-Ha's were written all over. I also realized neither of us had clothes,making last night's memory pop into my head. We did it. It was so passionate and aggressive, just like I would expect from J. He left me many love bites here and there, and i must've left him many back scratches.  
"Is my pumpkin awake already?" I heard a sleepy, deep manly voice.  
"Morning J." I said, smiling at him with a painless smile for the first time.  
He sat up on the bed, stretching his arms widely. His hand rested on my face and his eyes locked into mine. He was now so close I could smell the hangover breathe sweeping under my nose. He gave me a small peck on the lips and swung out of bed, reaching for his boxers. He was beyond beautiful, his pale skin almost glowing with the hint of sunlight outside.  
"What's part two of the plan, J?" I asked, also getting up.  
"Well, we now need to take someone else down."   
"Who is it going to be?" I mouthed as I put my robes on to cover myself up.  
"God knows, but this time, let's try not to attract too much attention."  
"Wise man." I laughed, pushing him a little on the shoulder.  
We headed downstairs quickly and made our way to the kitchen. I looked at the clock and read 3pm. We slept a long time, we must've drank a lot. It didn't matter, my life started making sense now, and that was all that mattered to me.   
I sat on a chair and simply looked outside,admiring the life I now cherished. How could anything go wrong?

****

I was lying down on the couch, Joker's head resting on my laps as I played in his hair. I couldn't help but smile widely when watching the news,everything I had made me feel like a queen. I loved him.  
As I was thinking about each and every little thing I loved about my life, I was interrupted by a large bang on the door. I jumped which made J stand up straight as a bullet. I saw the look of panic in his eyes, meaning for once he didn't know what to do. I went straight to the cupboard near the fireplace and took out some sharp knives and stayed wary. J took a big piece of metal hanging inside the armoire and stood in front of me, waiting to see who was behind the doors. It only took a few seconds before the door burst open, many cops in formation, each having a gun in their hands. It was clear our weapons had nothing against their guns, but nevertheless, were were doomed. The man in the front pulled his gun into Js direction, looking rather alarmed.  
"Put your weapons down!"  
"What do you want..?" J asked, seemingly curious and amused.  
"You both are heading with us." The cop yelled.  
"And where would that be, huh?" I said, trying to act confident.  
"Arkham Asylum..of course. You're lucky you're not sentenced to a lifetime in jail."  
His words struck me to the point of inner paralysis, and when I turned around to J, hoping to see a gleam of hope, I was only disappointed to see his face struck in worry. It was understandable, Arkham was a sketchy asylum, where no one wanted to be. It was for criminals only, but the rumours were very clear; it was hard to survive in there. Only god knows if Joker had a plan to get us out of this one.  
That's when I knew that, with a perfect life, comes the worst punishment possible.


	10. Doomed

Looking at the dark sky and the stars was probably the last normal thing I was going to do before entering Arkham, so I took in as much of it as I could. We were sitting at the back of a van, specialized for demented criminals with the aid of armed men at the back. What were we going to do anyways? We were handcuffed as tight as possible, and could barely move. All I could do was stretch my neck long enough to get a glimpse of Gotham. I could barely rest my head on Js shoulder without having chains brutally stopping me.  
The van came to a stop and we heard doors closing. Then the back door opened to more armed men and a lady in a white suit, a strict yet happy smile carving her face. She looked at both of us from head to toe, analyzing each of our features before speaking.  
"Thank you guys, i'm happy everything went fine with no harm necessary. Please lead them to their cells. Follow me please."  
The guards pulled our chains, forcing us to move as he led the way behind the woman. We entered the doors of Arkham and went down a very busy corridor. Doctors were everywhere, reading papers, talking or simply drinking their coffee. Some stepped out of the way when they caught sight of J, leaving him to smile in victory. We went down many other corridors, each having their own obscure aspect that made me wonder how people were supposed to cure in here. Joker greeted some friends ,I presume, on the way. Doctor Crane was here, which was a great surprise to me. He was renown. Famous Selina Kyle and Poison Ivy were also here, playing cards with Bane and some other inmates.  
We finally came to a stop and the woman turned around to look at us.  
"Here are your cells, you each have a bed, a toilet and some clothes. Please change into them as soon as possible. We've both granted you a neighboring cell as we know you two are..together? Right, we don't want to upset our patients even more by putting a barrier in their lives. You are going to stay in here for 24 hours until a schedule will be given to you. It's for safety purposes. You will soon meet your doctors, until then please make yourself comfortable. If anything, I will pass by tomorrow morning to check on you both. My name is Doctor Chelsea, please sleep well!"  
Both of us were shoved into our cells and unlocked of our chains. The guards secured the door with many keys and left us here, without saying a word. I looked at J across our cell, where only metal bars were separating us and took a glimpse of his face. He didn't seem worried at all.  
"You know, I've been here many times. I must say, the cells are much cozier than before."  
"J, What are we going to do?" I panicked.  
"Just calm down pumpkin, everything will fall into its place and we will find a great plan. For now, just go along with this life."  
"You do know this is the place they electrocuted me near to death, right?"  
"And if they do that again, i'll make sure they are the ones to die." He laughed , sadistically as usual, making all the inmates around us turn around in surprise. I tried looking at their faces to identify them, but it was too dark at this hour. An inmate stopped dramatically before walking slowly towards us in the most cursing silence possible. At this point all I could see was the hair. Long and blonde. It was a female, presumably. She reached the bars of Js cell and spoke a sensual voice.  
"Look it's my puddin..You have no idea how happy I am to find you here.. After my betrayal of the squad to come find you alone, they ... re-imprisoned me. And for what? Nothing! Because you have a new toy now!"  
She was now facing me, holding the bars of my cell.  
"And you.. I will make you pay. You better pray the doctors kill you before I do." She screamed.  
I was doomed.


	11. Fake

24 hours had already passed since our initial imprisonment and things were not looking better. Doctor Chelsea handed us our schedules for the upcoming month, sliding the little paper under our cell doors. I took a long look at the paper, analyzing everything, hoping my brain could see something out of this. But no. I dont think Group Therapy sessions or How to Cook 101 lessons would give me a hint on how to fix this mess. I glared at my neighboring cell, catching a bored look on J's face.

"Whats the matter?"

"I was expecting better than a mere game of chess every Friday night if you ask me."

"Think J, think! You got me out of here once, cant you do it twice?"

"I dont know if you've realized yet Pumpkin, but this wing is a completely different one from your previous imprisonment. I have never been here or ever seen this place."

"Come to think of it, it looks a lot cleaner, nicer and...legal. I wonder whats the deal."

I was processing this information too well for my own sake. J was right, this wing was not the same, the feeling was different, even the doctors seemed willingly nice. Perhaps we could eventually get out of here if we played along? Pretend we were cured of insanity and washed away all of our crimes? I could imagine J being a good actor, but portraying the role of a sane person was out of my imagination for his being.

My thoughts were suddenly cut by the sound of chains and keys on my door. Security guards were opening our cells, quickly putting some metal cuffs around our wrists. The gap between each cuff was wide enough to give me some game for eating or anything of the sort. We were quickly escorted to what seemed to be a cafeteria , with a surprisingly modern look to it. This was not the Arkham i saw. We sat down next to each other, already having a plate of food assigned to our seats. I had to admit, it didn't look as disgusting as my rotten apples and bread did the last time.

                                                                               ***********

The months flew by in Arkham like never I thought they would. I changed doctor over 13 times, all giving up in my case at the grand amusement of my partner in crime. He simply had fun fooling with the doctors, inventing a new sick way of murdering them every session, which caused him to change doctors every single week. At this rate I was wondering when they were going to be understaffed here, but doctors seemed to be coming in like flies.

Harley was taken to psych, where she was most likely tortured. All for having attempted murder on me 3 times in one week. Serves her well. I mean, jealousy shouldn't lead to murder, right? On another happy side, I made tight bonds with the Riddler, as they called him in Gotham. He made me laugh in a genuine, non psychotic way and took some of the asylum pain out of me a little. Oh, he was mad, but in a different way then J.

Speaking of, my relationship with Jack became the defining thing in my new life. I felt like I was the real me with him, that he took the best of me and highlighted it. Although I could tell that as the days in confinement passed, he was going more and more insane, he still remained sweet to me, which was something not everyone had to luxury to have here.

Just as we were "enjoying" our little routine here, an elite squad of GCPD officers came to us, interrupting our TV time and gently asked us to take our belongings and follow them. We were as puzzled as could be, but followed orders nonetheless, not knowing what to expect.

We reached the lobby of the Asylum, where a beautiful yet normal woman stood, smiling at us. I looked at J, hoping to see some familiarity between them but unfortunately, he looked just as lost as I did. As we reached the front desk, a woman in a suit held a paper to the woman.

"Here you go Madam Riley, thank you for everything and if you have any trouble with your daughter or Joker, please advise us and we will take necessary actions."

Excuse me, what? This woman was not my mother!


End file.
